WORCESTER - With residents of Athol still dealing with ice jam problems caused by last week's roller-coaster weather, the region is in line for another chapter of snow.
Beginning Tuesday evening and continuing through midday Wednesday, as much as 7 inches of snow is expected for the Worcester area, and possibly more in northern Central Massachusetts. It will remain below freezing until Saturday, when another warmup begins.
The snowstorm predicted for Tuesday follows quite a weather ride in Central Massachusetts over two weeks. The region saw heavy snow Jan. 4, and two days later the mercury plunged below zero. On Saturday, it was a spring-like 59 in Worcester, and raining heavily. So much snow melted Saturday that lawns were down to grass again. By Sunday, temperatures had again dropped below freezing.
Worcester Regional Airport has seen three records tied or broken since Jan. 1. On New Year's Day, the low temperature of minus 5 tied a record set in 1918. The Jan. 4 storm brought a record 16.8 inches of snow to Worcester. On Saturday, the reading of 59 broke a record for Jan. 13, set a year earlier. The previous record high for the date was 57.
In Athol, the effect of the extreme weather swings caused an ice jam on the Millers River that extended for more than a mile. The threat of the ice and the water it was holding back spilling over the banks forced the evacuation Saturday of Morton Meadows senior housing and the closing of a bridge on Exchange Street. The bridge will be evaluated by the state Public Works Department before it can be reopened, according to Athol Town Manager Shaun Suhoski. Morton Meadows residents have been placed in temporary alternative housing until the threat passes.
On Monday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was expected to begin releasing water from the Tully and Birch Hill dams in the hope of relieving the ice situation.
Throughout Central Mass., roads are being treated where snow melt has created a hazardous icing.
LATEST CENTRAL MASS. FORECAST